On October 28, 2017, Okubo Library hosted its fourth Biblio Battle, a book review game. This latest event drew the most participants ever, with six Japanese and six non-Japanese competing. There were about forty spectators on hand, and the battle was exciting from beginning to end. Various questions flew back and forth during question time, and a great deal of international exchange was achieved through books. The fifth session of this wonderful program—which allows you to get to know people through books and get to know books through people—is already scheduled for next year.

Scenes from the fourth Biblio Battle

Participant’s Voice—Matar Bin Yelaiyel from Dubai

I hope everyone will read the book I introduced. It was nice to meet and talk with a lot of people through books. Although I read about forty books per year, there were some books I had never seen before, so this event was a real eye-opener. This is the best event for people like me who love books and want to get together and enjoy talking about them.

Matar Bin Yelaiyel

What Is Biblio Battle All About?

1. Choose a book you’d like to recommend
2. Everyone gets together and each participant introduces a book
3. The participants are asked questions during question time
4. Everyone votes for the books they would like to read
5. The book with the most votes is declared the “champion book”
6. Everyone enjoys talking about books

November 25, 2017